5.11.2009

who doesn't?!?

The new U.S. envoy to the Sudan is Scott Gration. According to The Economist, Mr. Gration was born in the Congo to missionary parents and speaks Swahili. While I certainly think that some degree of familiarity with the region is a useful skill for an envoy, the fact that Gration speaks Swahili is almost completely irrelevant given that almost no one in the Sudan speaks Swahili.